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Home Countries Colombia

The 6 Best Countries To Get A Residency In 2021

World's 6 Best Residency Options For 2021

Lief Simon by Lief Simon
Sep 18, 2020
in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Offshore, Panama, Portugal, Residency
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Second residency, passports

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When establishing a Plan B or backup residency, most people look for the easiest option… but “easiest” isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept.

This debate came up during a conference call with my editorial team earlier this year. We realized that we’d used the term “world’s easiest residency” in two different articles, one referencing Colombia, the other Panama.

In fact, both things are true. Panama is the easiest place to qualify for residency… but Colombia’s process is easier, meaning its visa is easier to acquire once you’ve qualified.

And those aren’t the only ways one residency can be “easier” than another. You also want to consider how difficult the residency, once obtained, is to maintain. As well, there are different kinds of residency programs—those intended specifically for retirees, for example, and those you qualify for through investment. Some of these are “easier” than others, of course.

Here’s how I’d rate your best options across categories right now…

Panama—Easiest Residency To Qualify For

Panama is the easiest backup residency from the perspective of qualifying for residency. If you’re from one of 50 countries, then you qualify for residency in Panama under the Specific Countries residency program or what is commonly called the Friendly Nations residency visa. It doesn’t get any easier to qualify for residency than by simply carrying a passport from a country that Panama deems worthy.

Colombia—Easiest Residency Process

While qualifying for residency in Colombia is easy, it’s not as simple as being a citizen of certain countries. Where Colombia shines, though, is its process. It’s straightforward, transparent, and doesn’t require a background check from your current country of residence. All requirements are clearly spelled out on the immigration website, and the requirements aren’t open to interpretation at the point when you interact with the individual immigration agents… as can be the case elsewhere in the world (Mexico, for example).

Dominican Republic—Easiest Residency To Maintain

The Dominican Republic has what is probably the easiest residency permit to maintain. It comes with no time-in-country requirement. Once you’ve obtained permanent residency, you keep it simply by renewing your residency card every four years. If you’re not in the country to renew your card, you don’t lose your residency, you simply pay a penalty for every month you’re late in renewing. The nominal monthly penalties can add up over time if you go too long, but, as a backup residency, this can be your best option.

Nicaragua—EasiestPensionado Program To Qualify For

The minimum income requirement to qualify for Nicaragua’s pensionadoprogram is just US$600 per month. As the average monthly Social Security payment is more than US$1,400, most anyone receiving Social Security is in. If you don’t yet qualify for Social Security, you can obtainrentistaresidency in Nicaragua by showing as little as US$750 per month of stable permanent income (from a rental property, interest from a CD, or dividends from stocks, for example).

Ecuador—Easiest Through Investment

Ecuador offers the world’s easiest residency-through-investment option. You simply have to invest 70 times the minimum monthly salary in a bank CD for 2 years (730 days). That amounts to US$28,000. Or you can invest in real estate at 80 times minimum monthly salary, or US$32,000. You can also invest in a private company (can be your own company); the minimum investment requirement is 100 times the minimum monthly salary, or US$40,000 right now.

Portugal—Easiest In Europe

Right now, I’d call Portugal the easiest residency option in Europe. You can qualify simply by showing sufficient means. The specific amount isn’t stipulated and is at the discretion of the immigration agent handling the case; however, our attorney in Lisbon says that 1,200 euros a month is sufficient. Any provable passive income qualifies.

Lief Simon
Editor,Offshore Living Letter

P.S. The details for how to apply and qualify for each of these programs—as well as dozens of others around the world—are presented in full in my just-updated “Passport To Freedom Plan B Crisis Kit.” The expanded program now includes 13 reports, including the new “Residency And Citizenship For Sale—How The Pandemic Changed The Game For The Residency And Citizenship-By-Investment Marketplace.”

Today and tomorrow only, this very timely resource is available for 62% off the regular price.

Details are here.

Tags: 'Colombia''Dominican Republic''Ecuador''Nicaragua''residency''retirement'PanamaPortugalvisa
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Lief Simon

Lief Simon

Lief Simon has lived and worked on five continents and traveled to more than 60 countries. In his long career as a global property investor, Lief has also managed multimillion-dollar portfolios of rental properties, for others and for himself. He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches.

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